BIG SKY – With no hyperbole, one could say the people of Big Sky are
slightly obsessed with mountains—but can you blame them with a 11,166-foot
hulking mass perpetually looming over the community, 24/7, 365 days a year?

It’s only fitting that Big Sky play host to a film festival
celebrating the awe-inspiring, practically celestial, bodies of rock and soil
that trace and groove every continent in every climate, creating unique
ecosystems for endemic flora and fauna, furnishing the setting for some of
humanity’s most daring acts.

Back for its fourth year in Big Sky, the roots of Mountainfilm stretch
back to 1979 Telluride, Colorado. One of the nation’s longest-running film
festivals, Mountainfilm is supported by an eponymous nonprofit organization
that “celebrates stories of indomitable spirit and aims to inspire
audiences through film, art and ideas,” according to the Arts Council of Big
Sky website.

ACBS Education and Outreach Director Megan Buecking said this
year’s festival is a continued collaboration with Mountainfilm HQ in Telluride,
and is broken into three days with specific themes and film offerings beginning
on Friday, Sept. 13.

“The first day is Mountainfilm for Students on Friday,” said Buecking,
a former art teacher for the Big Sky School District. “It comes from an
educational standpoint, and a … couple of teachers are building Mountainfilm
into their curriculums for additional integration.”

Those inaugural film offerings, closed to the public and held at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, will be followed by a screening of “The Weight of Water,” a film showcasing the accomplishments of the first-ever blind kayaker, Erik Weihenmayer, to navigate the massive and treacherous rapids of the Grand Canyon, no small feat for even those with perfect 20/20 vision. Tickets cost $15, which gives attendees access to a reception at 6 p.m. and the 7 p.m. screening.

“Megan gave me three films to screen and I just fell in love with
‘The Weight of Water,’” said Rich Addicks, an ACBS board member and integral
piece in bringing the festival to Big Sky four years ago. “It’s a
wonderful film—emotional and inspirational, and it’s really well filmed and
well told. If you’re a river person at all there will be moments you’re holding
breath.”

The
event will also be supplemented with a raffle to support local businesses and
the ACBS.

“We
will also be doing some door prizes with items donated by local businesses,
with proceeds going to the Arts Council,” Buecking said. “A raffle ticket will
come with the purchase of a ticket for the film, and more raffle tickets will
be available for purchase at the WMPAC.”

On
Saturday, Sept. 14, Women in Action, a Big Sky nonprofit geared to address the
needs of children and families lacking educational, health and human services
access, will present the Mountainfilm for Families Matinee, a free, but with
limited seating available—so be sure to sign up online, event held at Lone Peak
Cinema beginning at 10:30 a.m., complete with an art project, snacks and
family-friendly documentary shorts.

Later
that evening, the fourth annual night of Documentary Shorts at Lone Peak Cinema
will commence with a reception at 6 p.m.

“The
shorts touch on all the different action sports we [Big Sky locals] like,”
Buecking said. “We really tried to get a healthy mix of different
things—meaningful content to keep people engaged.”

The
event will include door prizes and giveaways, will cost $15 and will conclude
with an afterparty for those looking to continue in the Mountainfilm revelries.

Should
one decide to partake in the afterparty, bear in mind that Sunday morning kicks
off with a run. A special collaboration between ACBS and the Big Sky Community
Organization, the “Town to Trails Race,” welcomes all levels of trail runners to
tour Big Sky’s Uplands and Hummocks trail systems, a roughly 6-mile course.

A
$35 registration fee includes a long-sleeve race shirt and prizes for top
winners. The race is set to begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Aspen and Simkins
drives, the future site of the BASE community center.

“We are all really excited about this collaboration,” Buecking said.
“It’s pretty great when two community nonprofits can get together and make
something special.”

Mountainfilm On Tour will close out with a free screening of a series of short documentaries in Big Sky Town Center Park, each documentary focusing on culture and society. The screening will be family-friendly and open to all, so that any passerby might be enticed to join in on the viewing.

A still from ‘The Weight of Water,’ a documentary featuring the accomplishments of blind kayaker Erik Weihenmayer. STILL COURTESY OF ACBS

“Bring chairs, bring a blanket, bring some snacks and bring family and
friends,” Buecking said.

Sometimes, as we go throughout our day-to-day lives in Big Sky, even
that optical omnipresence of Lone Mountain can fade into the background of the
day’s minutia. A call to action: Take part in Mountainfilm On Tour, if only to
refresh that fixation that brought us all here in the first place.